How We Feelin? + TNF Preview, Trade Q's - Fantasy Football Podcast for 9/16

Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast

The Fantasy Footballers Podcast previews Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season, discussing early-season player performances, waiver wire moves, inju

Key takeaways

• Week 1 waiver activity was underwhelming with few standout pickups, highlighting the importance of post-waiver checks for released players.
• The Lions vs. Bills Thursday Night Football game features high fantasy relevance due to top-tier offenses and projected scoring volume.

Main topics

• Week 2 Fantasy Football Preview
• Thursday Night Football: Lions vs. Bills Breakdown

Notable quotes

"It's like so much fantasy relevance. And we're going to have to sit here and hear about your team."

"I had to make an aggressive move for Deebo, which... Don't hear what I'm not saying. I just needed a guy."

Conclusion

The hosts emphasize strategic patience and data-driven decisions for fantasy

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:06) to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Speaker 2 (0:21) Welcome in. Wednesday, September 16th, the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Mike Wright, Jason Moore, Andy Holloway, and the Deucers in the building for another episode. Another fine episode indeed. Only the finest. I feel like that's how I would describe the Thursday night football matchup. Only the finest. That Speaker 3 (0:52) is the issue with today's episode. Why is that an issue? The Thursday night matchup. Because I want to enjoy it. It's an incredible matchup. The Lions going to the Bills. And it's like so much fantasy relevance. And we're going to have to sit here and hear about your team. Speaker 2 (1:08) No. I don't need to tell you about my team. You already know about it. Inside. Inside my heart. I doubt Josh Allen, Jameer Gibbs, and Amon Ross St. Brown do anything on Thursday. Now you're tempting me. Now you're bringing it to the forefront. No, look, I'm just excited. This is an awesome Thursday night matchup. Speaker 3 (1:28) It really is. 54.5 point Speaker 2 (1:30) over. And Speaker 3 (1:31) it Speaker 2 (1:31) doesn't hurt that both of these teams are in two of the best matchups in week one. Like the Saints game with the Lions was awesome. The Bills-Texans matchup. I got Mike already here. He's scouting. Waivers are running, guys. He's scouting waivers. He's a big Debo guy. Picked up Debo for 17 fab. Felt like you had to do it, didn't you? Had to. Felt like you had to do it. Speaker 4 (1:52) The bench with Zay Flowers maybe or maybe not playing. I had to make an aggressive move for Deebo, which... Don't hear what I'm not saying. I just needed a guy. Speaker 2 (2:07) This didn't feel too. No, it didn't feel great, but we did it anyways. Yeah, Matt Collins. Matt Collins went for $12. Wow. Jason, you took Kenyon Sadiq for nine. I Speaker 3 (2:17) did. It fits my game plan of playing for 2027. Interesting. Speaker 2 (2:22) I got Caleb Douglas, it looks like. Okay, yeah. You Speaker 3 (2:25) did. Speaker 2 (2:25) It's hard when these go through on the show. It's hard not to take a glance. I Speaker 4 (2:29) was at six. for Caleb Douglas and I moved him down right before the before we came in here so you're Speaker 3 (2:37) welcome well I was at six for Caleb Douglas as well but he was behind uh Sadiq Speaker 2 (2:41) okay yeah I mean it's uh it I think we all thought it was kind of an uninspiring week one waiver I said Speaker 3 (2:47) that to you this morning I I think in the last decade this was the least exciting week one waivers that we've experienced it just wasn't really a home run which is It's a little bit of the Speaker 4 (2:59) double-edged sword because if there's a hot running back Speaker 3 (3:02) pickup, it's an injury. Speaker 4 (3:04) Generally, that means that there was an injury. Every once in a while, you get a James Robinson who you're like, seems like it's out of nowhere. Wide receivers, they're more likely to come out of nowhere, but no one really hit the home run. Yeah, Speaker 2 (3:20) we always remind people, and it's a good time to do it, we say drop it like it's hot. You want to check your waiver wire. after it runs, and see who people released. Not thinking there's going to be a fight in this league for anybody. Xavier Worthy, Terrence Ferguson, Najee Harris, and Tyrone Tracy and Justice Hill hit the waiver wire. They're going to stay there. But maybe your league's different because there's probably some of these disappointing week one guys. We went through the, what was it, bounce back or buns yesterday? Mm-hmm. And some of those. It's heavy on the science. Yeah, the scientific segment there. And the data. But no, Speaker 4 (3:55) I Speaker 2 (3:55) mean, there'll be guys that hit the waiver wire this week for sure. I thought it was going to be Tyler Shuck, and then the second half happened. I thought I'd be releasing him. But back into the show here, we have... A fun quick question. We're going to do take checks, just a quick week one inventory on things we feel like we got right so far. More not got right, just like what do you feel good about right now? What do you feel bad about from what you thought in the offseason? We'll get into some news. We'll preview the Thursday night game that Jason's excited about, and then we'll talk some mailbag. But a couple reminders at the top. If you haven't done it, we have two apps. We have the UDK app, which people use all offseason to get ready for their drafts. But it's a good reminder. Pick up the free Fantasy Footballers app on the App Store, Apple or Android. And it's, you know, our rankings are in there. We got articles. All the Foot Clan perks are in there. It's absolutely free. You can grab that right now on the App Store. It's a good reminder. And then if you want to join the community, jointhefoot.com. Ultimate Dashboard, all of our premium in-season tools, custom waiver wire, spot starts, and tons of other resources, including a bonus episode of the show every week. Absolutely. And the Ultimate Dashboard, it's the only way to Speaker 4 (5:09) do your waivers, honestly. Speaker 3 (5:11) It's so helpful. It is really being able to see all your leagues at a glance with waivers, who's available, go league by league. It just speeds things up tremendously. If you're in one league. It's still helpful, but if you're in multiple leagues, I can't live without it anymore. Speaker 2 (5:31) So we just had our chopped league, our guillotine league waivers go through. And it looks like I have Jamar Chase now. You sure do. Morgan, I'm used. You devil. I bid 666 on him. It looks like it wasn't, I mean, everybody bid on him. It wasn't too much higher than where the hitman was. Speaker 2 (5:56) Colson Loveland went for 316. If you're in a chopped league or you don't know what that is, they're pretty fun. We did it for the first time last year. 18 people. One person, the lowest score, gets chopped every week. Raise your hand if you were chopped this week. Okay. Yeah, for those listening at home, Al Borland's hand went up. Speaker 3 (6:14) Gave you Jamar Chase. You're welcome. One less thing to worry about. Speaker 2 (6:18) But yeah, so interesting. Yeah, those just popped through as well. It's always... Week one in a chop league, you don't know how much to spend. I mean, the budget's $1,000. Yeah. So you can Speaker 3 (6:28) spend up, but you really don't know how much to spend. Some people really don't know how much. And we get, who are you talking about? I'm talking about 150 bones spent on Demarcus Robinson. Speaker 4 (6:40) Who did that? Jake. One of the guys in the. He got chopped first last year. So he had no idea. Yeah, he's going heavy. He outbid the $5. Speaker 3 (6:47) The $5 was the second bid. Oh, Jake. Speaker 4 (6:50) Oh, man. People, you know, like more and more I'm starting to get the guillotine chopped advice. Like, hey, what do I do here? And it's like, dude. I don't know that there's boilerplate for any of chopped league because it's so contextual. Yeah, it's so subjective to your roster. You want to be able to have fab over the course of the season, but you also don't want to get chopped because once you get chopped, you're out and you go to the grave with all your money. Yeah, it's fun. I can't take it with you. Speaker 2 (7:20) I feel like I overspent, but not by too much. All right, quick question. Let's do those take checks. Let's talk about. One, two, three things you feel good about in terms of what week one might have confirmed about the offseason thought processes. Speaker 3 (7:38) Sure. Some of the things that I think I feel good about getting right based on week one, Jackson Dart was a guy that I tried to take a lot of shots on. He looked good week one. That one's tough because it was Dallas, and Dallas' defense looked like 20-25. So that one, I'm tempered. But I'm excited because he did look good. He looked mature. His play style, he still ran the ball. Everything that I was hoping for. And he has neighbors from week one. Speaker 4 (8:09) And likely. The fact that there's two – it seems like there's two strong weapons for him. And then Malachi Fields can, like – come along slowly and maybe turn into a third option. Speaker 3 (8:21) Yeah, I was not as into Devon Achan. You know, I was worried about the offense for Achan. That seemed a little bit worrisome. He didn't get, you know, he scored fewer fantasy points this week than in any week last year. I also saw a thread of plays where there were potential checkdowns that turned into scrambles for Malik Willis. Yeah, Speaker 4 (8:43) it's going to Speaker 3 (8:43) happen. And it was like, you know, you just watch that and it's like, okay, that's three or four. targets a game, which is like, it's not, it's just a couple plays, but that is, that's a baseline of like four fantasy points. Speaker 2 (8:54) I also think Malik Willis in week one was the lowest on target rate percentage wise for his passes in general. The offense did not get momentum at any point in that game to work. I mean, I think there were like one or two times we were like, Oh, here's a drive. Like you just, there's some things to be concerned about. Hopefully he Speaker 3 (9:10) can work it out and he's playing with two. I mean, he's a great. Speaker 2 (9:13) player. So you hope that that, I mean, it can overcome like Bijan did with Cooper Rush in that game. That's what you'd love to see. But yeah, the checkdowns are going to be a problem. And then, of course. Speaker 3 (9:21) Bucky Irving. Oh, wait a minute. The guy that. Your unofficial my guy? Wait a minute. Yes, my unofficial Speaker 2 (9:26) my guy clearly was that dude. What an offseason. I feel like you almost said nothing about him all offseason. Man, all offseason. He spoke with his actions. That's right. That's right, Mike. It was the subtext of most of the other things you said. Yeah. I feel good about Caleb and the Bears so far. I Speaker 3 (9:40) mean, Speaker 2 (9:40) Caleb was a my guy and the Bears, the bold prediction. I said they'd all break out. I feel great about Isaiah Likely. He was a darling. And in the offseason, great start. And then I think we all – we had the conversation about Drake London and how it might be a problem without a trustworthy quarterback. I think we saw that in week one. We Speaker 4 (10:03) didn't Speaker 2 (10:03) know Speaker 3 (10:03) how untrustworthy his quarterback play was going to be in week one. It will get better with Pua, but – Speaker 3 (10:11) Still concerning. Speaker 2 (10:12) And then Ladd. I feel good about the involvement, and it seemed like Ladd was the dude. He was eating. Yes. And even though the injury happened, I feel good about that, Mike. What do you feel good about so far? Speaker 4 (10:23) I feel good about my optimism for the change in the Ravens' offense, that getting old hat, old busted out of there, get the Ben Johnson system down to Lamar Jackson, see what he can do. You know, that's still – that's a one game. It's like the – what you were saying about Dart, Jay. Like, it's the one game. It's the Colts. I'm not going to victory lap it yet, but it feels – if you've got Flowers or Henry on your team, you're feeling really good. The Cleveland Browns are who we thought they were, and they are – it's an absolute fantasy graveyard. You Speaker 2 (10:58) were very hands-off on all of their players, and so far it looks like you should be hands-off on all of their players. Yeah, it's just – And maybe you can get the Shadur thing going. Maybe. Because Speaker 3 (11:06) Fannin Speaker 2 (11:07) was good with Shadur. Maybe that happens. Maybe that's the salvation for two of us. For the Falcons. Speaker 3 (11:11) Sometimes you drop your wedding ring into the toilet, right? Right. And it's like, sometimes that water's clean. I'm just saying. I'm just going along with Speaker 4 (11:19) it, dude. Speaker 3 (11:19) Hypothetically, I'm saying. I've never had Speaker 4 (11:21) this happen. Speaker 3 (11:22) I've never had it happen. But my point is, if you drop something in a toilet, sometimes it's like, oh, good. There's nothing in that toilet. Still gross. I got to get it out. Okay. Oh, yeah, Speaker 4 (11:31) yeah. Speaker 3 (11:31) This is like. Quinch on Judkins is Speaker 4 (11:34) in Speaker 3 (11:35) a toilet bowl of diarrhea. And it's like, that's a good player down there. But are you really going to go try to grab that? No. Speaker 2 (11:42) You Speaker 3 (11:42) just got to flush the whole team away. You got to flush the whole team down the drain. Just let that ring go. All the nice gyms, Concepcion, and everybody. Just flush them. Okay. There you go. Speaker 4 (11:56) Perfect. Speaker 3 (11:57) Nasty bowl. We're all tracking. Just disgusting. The sidewalls are ruined. If Speaker 2 (12:03) I don't talk, he's going to keep talking. There is. Speaker 4 (12:06) And there's more to be worried about than just Deshaun Watson and the quarterback play. Like the usage of Harold Fannin was. Speaker 4 (12:14) not what it was. And I'm not just talking targets. I'm talking his actual being on the field, running routes. 82 % of snaps. It's not what it was. It Speaker 2 (12:22) took Speaker 4 (12:22) a little Speaker 2 (12:22) glansky up this morning. Speaker 4 (12:23) And then I'm feeling good about Stephon Diggs. When he signed on with Washington, took him in a lot of mock drafts of saying that this player's ADP is not going to catch up. And he was 1,000 yards off of his ACL last year for Drake May. He Speaker 2 (12:39) also had very good separation numbers in week one, if you looked at that. Look, Diggs and Antonio Williams, who I thought looked outstanding, are a problem for Terry McLaurin. in a real way, in a way of consistency from Terry McLaurin. He's not the only show in town anymore. He's going to have his games, but I think you have reliable pass-catching options that are emerging there that are a threat to McLaurin being a safe start every week. Speaker 3 (13:04) McLaurin's target market share has always been one of his saving graces. It's just like he's been on an island, the only person to throw it to, and now if you do have other options, it's... It's going to be tough, especially for an offense that doesn't necessarily look great. That offensive line is hurting. And it'll be interesting because Antonio Williams, I think he only played 43 % of snaps. He got a touchdown and looked great. Will he play his way onto the field more and